Push in the Right Direction
by FallingTriumph
Summary: If Daniel was a braver man he would have asked Kate Moretti out years ago, instead of putting continuously putting it off.


**Spoilers for pretty much then entire series and there is some swearing but only once or twice. You have been warned.  
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**Read, review and enjoy.**

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If Daniel was a braver man he would have asked Kate Moretti out years ago, as soon as she graduated and was no longer his student. If he was a braver man he would have stopped the hallucinations years ago, would have sought treatment and would have taken his drugs. If he was a braver man he wouldn't let his diagnosis rule his life.

Instead he was weak. She left for Washington and he was floundering. He couldn't differentiate between what was real and what was in his head. Eventually something cut through the delusions; that if she came back and found him like this he would never forgive himself. So he checked himself in to the nearest hospital, found Lewicki, started writing and got back to teaching. He was good, for a while at least.

Kate came back eventually saying that she had been demoted for "going beyond the scope of her investigations." So very like Big Brother, try to do something they don't like and you get pushed so far down the ladder you can't even see where you came from.

She brought him puzzles, wonderfully complex puzzles. Ones with twists and turns and enough mystery to get him out of his head for days. It was like he had turned back time to before he had to admit himself. His delusions were manageable and for the first time in a long while, he was actually having fun. He was even working up the courage to ask her out (aside the minor blip that was the idiot Professor Hathaway he was actually getting there). Everything was great until he saw Westley Sumpter murdered in front of him. Then everything went to shit.

Events that never occurred, murders solved that were never committed, kisses that never happened (it's that last one that he replays over and over in his head when he can't sleep). It was all in his head just one giant, messed up, psychotic delusion that left his house in shambles and him back in the hospital. What makes it worse is that she saw him. He knows she's seen him talking to himself for a while now, knows that she is aware of what happened while she was away. But there is a vast difference between knowing something and seeing something and what she saw that day can never be unseen.

When he finds out that the murder he witnesses actually happened he cannot wait to get out of the ward, to see her and finally put this clusterfuck of a case to bed for good. There is the small matter of his college girlfriend who was never actually his girlfriend or even real to deal with first. It takes some rearranging of his neurons to figure that out and deal with it appropriately. But he did, he solved the case and started taking the drugs. He even made a friend (despite the fact that she used to be his hallucinatory girlfriend, there were some things that made everything too fuzzy for even him to think about).

Now the only thing left for him to face was Kate. He saw her face when she saw him in the aftermath of his weekend long hallucination. The painful mix between worry, confusion and sympathy, the same look he sometimes caught her giving him when she thought he was preoccupied with something else. It haunted his dreams, causing the guilt he already felt to multiply. He wasn't a complete idiot, he knew he needed to do something about it but was at a complete loss as to what. Funnily enough it was Caroline that pushed him to finally act.

He had a break between classes and was out in the grounds doing his crosswords waiting for Caroline to come to meet him for lunch.

"When are you going to ask her out?"

His head jerked up to see Caroline standing in front of him, "What?"

"I asked when you were going to ask Kate out." She sat down next to him.

"Why would I ask her out? Why would I condemn her to life of dealing with a paranoid schizophrenic?"

"Who says you are condemning her to anything? Even a blind man could see that she cares about you. You are managing your condition and you have been for years. Kate knows this and she knows how to deal with it. So you need to stop making excuses and ask her out." Apparently Caroline didn't beat around the bush.

"You know, I think it liked you better when you were a hallucination. At least then I could make you stop talking."

"I'm just here to tell you what you need to be told Daniel. It's what friends do." She gave him a coy smile. "Now, what are we having for lunch?"

It was later that week that an opportunity presented itself to him. They had just wrapped up a case in which his expertise was really not needed. He knew that Kate had the knowledge and experience to close this case without involving him, so the question as to why he was there had to be asked.

"Why did you ask me to help on this case?" She was driving him home when he finally worked up the courage to ask.

"What do you mean? We needed your help to close the case."

"No you didn't, you are more than capable of dealing with such a simple case." She didn't say anything. "Kate, if you are bringing me on cases because you think I need to be pitied then it needs to stop. I am managing my condition, I'm taking my drugs and I am doing better. So there is no need to take pity on me. And I-"

"Daniel, stop!" She pulled the car over and turned it off. "I'm not... I'm not taking pity on you. I would never take pity on you. I just like having you with me on cases; you give me someone to talk too. Someone who can keep up with me because let's face it; Probert is not the brightest bulb in the box." She refused to look at him instead choosing to look at her hands gripping the steering wheel.

"You know you don't need to ask me to consult on cases to talk to me. You can always visit me at the University."

"You know I can't, I have cases to work, suspects to interview and endless amounts of paperwork to complete. I can't just be running off to visit brilliant friends because my partner is a lackwit."

"Well come round after to get off, Lewicki can always make an extra serving of whatever we're having for dinner. Then we can talk about whatever you want afterwards."

"Are you asking me on a date Daniel Peirce?" Her voice had a ring of amusement to it.

"If I said yes, would you still consider coming?"

"How does Friday work for you?"

"I can do Friday."

"Well then, Friday it is."

They shared a smile before Kate put the car in gear and continued to head towards his house. They arrived fifteen minutes later and he hesitated before getting out the car.

"Daniel?" Kate turned to look at him.

"I just want to... try something. Don't hit me."

"Why would I hit you?"

Instead of answering her, he cupped her jaw, pulled her closer and kissed her. She made a small noise at the back of her throat and deepened the kiss, threading her hand through the short hair at the back of his head. It was so much better than when he was imagining it. Her lips were soft and she tasted like strong coffee and something that was uniquely her. Eventually they broke apart for air but kept their foreheads together.

"I would never hit you for doing that." She sounded rather breathless.

"Even if I did it at your work?"

She pulled their faces apart and stared him straight in the eyes, "Then I wouldn't hit you, I would kill you. Are we clear on this?"

"Crystal. I have to go now, Lewicki is watching us from the front window, I think he just did a fist pump." He still didn't move.

"Let's really give him something to fist pump about."

When Daniel finally made it through the door, his hair was sticking up at odd angels and he had a dopey grin on his face.

"Lewicki, I know you were watching. Make sure there is an extra serving for Friday dinner, Kate will be joining us."

"Sure thing Dr Peirce and can I just say, it's about damn time."


End file.
